Chapter 3

Marked Territory

Blaze barely made it to his bike before the tremors hit. His hands shook as he gripped the handlebars, the mate bond screaming at him to go back, to claim, to mark. To make sure every wolf within a hundred miles knew Maya Sterling belonged to him.

Maya. Even her name felt like a punch to the gut.

"Well, well. Running away from a little vet?" Roxy's voice cut through his spiral. She was leaning against her cherry-red Harley, looking like sin in leather pants and a cropped Iron Fangs cut that showed off her toned midriff. "That's not like you, baby." He glared at her.

The endearment felt wrong now, like ash in his mouth. "What are you doing here, Rox?" She feigned innocence but the bitch was anything but innocent. She was always up Blaze's ass and didn't hide she wanted him as her chosen.

She sauntered over, all predatory grace. Other wolves might be fooled by her human form, but Blaze knew her wolf was pure alpha female, ambitious and ruthless. It was why they'd made sense together. Why the pack had been pushing for them to make it official. He was holding off and didn't know why.

"Heard one of our prospects got jumped. Came to check on my future mate's business." Her hand slid up his chest, coming to rest over his heart. Her eyes narrowed. "Your heart's racing, Blaze. Want to tell me why?" He wanted to shove her off.

Before he could answer, the clinic door opened. Maya stepped out, probably heading to her car for supplies. She froze when she saw them, the color draining from her face. She looked hurt as she watched them.

Roxy's nostrils flared. Her head snapped around, eyes shifting to wolf-gold as she scented the air. The change in her was instant and terrible.

"No," she snarled, low and deadly. "No fucking way."

Maya took a step back, her keys jingling in her trembling hand. Everything about her posture screamed submission, made Blaze's wolf want to stand between her and any threat. He wanted to protect her from Roxy.

Which was exactly what Roxy was right now. Roxy was a huge threat.

"You knew," Roxy turned back to him, her voice arctic. "You went in there, you scented her, and you knew." Her laugh was bitter glass. "The great Blaze Carson, finally found his mate. And it's this... this mouse." Maya didn't say anything.

"Roxy." His voice carried the weight of his alpha authority. "Stand down."

"Or what?" She stepped toward Maya, who held her ground despite her obvious fear. "You'll choose her? This little nobody who probably can't even shift properly? Over me? Over everything we've built?"

"I'm just here to do my job," Maya's voice was soft but steady. "I don't want any trouble." She headed for her car.

"Honey," Roxy's smile was all teeth, "trouble found you the moment you rolled into our territory."

She moved like lightning, closing the distance between them. But Maya was faster than she looked, sidestepping smoothly, letting Roxy's momentum carry her past. It was a defensive move Blaze recognized from formal pack training. This shy vet was more than she appeared. She had guts.

Roxy spun back, furious at being made to look foolish. "You—"

"Enough!" Blaze's roar echoed off the surrounding buildings. His power rolled out in a wave that had both women gasping, their wolves instinctively responding to alpha dominance. Maya looked at him sadly. His loud voice made her fear him.

The street had emptied, locals knowing better than to be around when werewolf drama exploded. In the silence, Blaze could hear three racing heartbeats – his own, Roxy's fury-driven pace, and Maya's rapid but controlled flutter.

"Ghost," he called, knowing his enforcer would hear from inside. "Get the prospect settled. Dr. Sterling, go finish your work. Roxy..." He turned to her, letting his wolf show in his eyes. "Club meeting. Now."

"Club meeting?" She laughed again, high and sharp. "You think that's going to fix this? You think you can just—"

"I said now." Each word was clipped, final. She better not onlbject she knows how brutal Blaze can get.

For a moment, he thought she'd defy him. Then she tossed her long black hair, leather and pride creaking as she stalked to her bike. The engine roared to life, angry as its rider.

"This isn't over," she called over the growl of her Harley. "She doesn't belong here, Blaze. And if you pick her, the pack will never accept it. You know that."

She peeled out, leaving rubber and rage on the asphalt.

When Blaze finally let himself look at Maya, she was hugging herself, eyes on the ground. But there was steel in her spine, and her voice was resigned rather than frightened when she said, "She's right. I should go."

"Maya—" She sighed.

"Please." She finally looked up at him, and the raw vulnerability in her eyes gutted him. "I have a patient to tend to. And you have... complications to handle."

She disappeared back into the clinic before he could respond, the door closing with a finality that felt like a prison gate slamming.

His wolf howled in frustration, in need, in fury at being denied what was theirs. But Roxy's words echoed in his head. The pack politics. The alliances. The carefully maintained peace between supernatural MCs that kept their territory safe. He can't risk his pack for a mate and as much as it would hurt he had to put his pack family first.

All of it balanced on the edge of a knife. All of it threatened by the quiet vet with honey-gold hair and eyes that saw right through him.

Blaze kicked his bike to life, each mile between himself and his mate a fresh torture. He had a club to run. A pack to lead. He knew that whatever choice he made, someone was going to get hurt. Maya would most likely be the one hurting.

Fuck I had to make a choice. Something I dreaded.

And a choice to make that would change everything.